UK

Nadine Dorries has insisted that 97% of Tory MPs are behind Boris Johnson as the prime minister was hit with a further call to resign. The culture secretary also told Sky News her cabinet colleague Sajid Javid was 100% behind the prime minister, after the health secretary sought to distance himself from Mr Johnson’s claim

Downing Street has refused to comment on reports a picture of Boris Johnson holding a beer at a birthday party in Number 10 during lockdown has been handed to the Metropolitan Police’s investigation. According to the Daily Mirror, the photo shows the prime minister standing next to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who is holding a soft

Another aide has reportedly left Number 10, taking the total number of departures in less than 24 hours to five. Number Ten Policy Unit member Elena Narozanski is the latest aide to leave Boris Johnson’s Downing Street operation amid the continuing fallout from the partygate allegations, Conservative Home reports. Her departure comes after Number 10

Two more senior officials are leaving Number 10 in an apparent mass exodus from Downing Street amid the fallout from the partygate scandal. Number 10 revealed on Thursday night that both Dan Rosenfield, the prime minister’s chief of staff, and Martin Reynolds, Mr Johnson’s principal private secretary, are leaving their roles. It came just hours

Millions of households will see their energy bills rise to a typical £1,971 a year after regulator Ofgem increased its price cap by 54%. The increase, which will on average see bills for 22 million customers on variable gas and electricity tariffs rise by £693, will take effect in April and follows a 12% rise

Analysis by Jon Craig, political correspondent It’s being called D-day for the cost-of-living crisis. And Rishi Sunak is determined to be centre stage and show the public and Tory MPs that he has the right measures to tackle it. On a day of good news and bad news, on which the bad threatens to outweigh

RAF jets have been scrambled to track “unidentified aircraft” north of Scotland. The Typhoon jets were launched from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray and joined by a Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. An RAF spokesman declined to provide more information on the operation until it is over. An image taken from

Scottish crime writer Val McDermid has declared her lifelong support of Raith Rovers has ended over the signing of “the rapist David Goodwillie”. Former Scotland international Goodwillie joined Raith Rovers on a two-and-a-half-year deal from Clyde on transfer deadline day. Goodwillie, who previously played for clubs including Dundee United, Blackburn Rovers and Aberdeen, was ruled

The government says its 12 “levelling up missions” to spread opportunity more equally across the country will see “a complete system change of how government works”. Michael Gove will unveil the government’s Levelling Up White Paper later which officials say will set out a blueprint to bring prosperity “to all parts” of the UK. In

Downing Street has refused to guarantee that the public will be told if fines are issued over lockdown-busting parties. Speaking to journalists at a regular Westminster briefing, the prime minister‘s spokesman said it is for the Metropolitan Police to decide whether to make such information public. ‘Positive’ mood among Tory MPs as PM appears to

More than one in five people are cutting back on their use of gas and electricity as household budgets are squeezed by inflation, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. The ONS said recent survey figures showed 66% of adults in Britain had experienced an increase in the cost of living over the

Children are being sexually exploited by networks in all parts of England and Wales in the “most degrading and destructive ways”, according to a report by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). The report found that perpetrators are finding “new ways” to groom younger children, including through social media and dating apps. It

The police watchdog has condemned Scotland Yard officers for a range of bad behaviour, including racism, misogyny, harassment and offensive social media messages. An investigation was launched after a complaint that an officer had sex with a drunk person in a police station, but it later uncovered much more. The Independent Office for Police Conduct

James Bond actress Lashana Lynch and West Side Story’s Ariana DeBose are among the latest crop of young performers nominated for BAFTA’s rising star award. Before appearing as the new 007 in No Time To Die last year, Lynch, 34, had starred in Marvel’s Captain Marvel opposite Brie Larson, and Sky police drama Bulletproof. DeBose

Tesco said 1,600 jobs were at risk as it announced a further round of restructuring across its store network. Britain’s biggest supermarket said it was moving overnight re-stocking to the daytime in 36 large stores and 49 convenience stores. It is also converting 36 of its petrol stations to become pay-at-pump only sites during overnight

House price growth picked up to 11.2% in January – the strongest start to the year since 2005, according to figures from lender Nationwide. It suggested the surge in the cost of living, with inflation at a near 30-year high, had yet to dent housing market activity, the lender said. The year-on-year pace of growth

Boris Johnson is reportedly considering a U-turn on plans to raise national insurance as the wait goes on for the publication of Sue Gray’s inquiry into partygate allegations. The prime minister is facing pressure from some Tory MPs to scrap the controversial tax hike in order to win back support to save his job. The

Boris Johnson has dismissed claims he approved the airlift of animals out of Afghanistan, saying they are “total rhubarb”, as Sky News obtained more emails which call into question the government’s account. Leaked messages appear to show that the prime minister‘s top parliamentary aide, Trudy Harrison, told Virgin Atlantic her efforts to secure a plane

Prince Andrew has asked for a jury trial and denied all the allegations against him as he officially responded to Virginia Giuffre’s sexual assault lawsuit. Court documents filed in New York show he “hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the complaint”. Ms Giuffre accuses the Duke of York

Whistleblower emails have raised further questions over Boris Johnson’s insistence that he did not intervene to assist animal charities during the evacuation of Afghanistan. Last December the prime minister dismissed claims made by a former Foreign Office official that the government prioritised animals over people as “complete nonsense”. But new emails released by the Foreign